First collected and grown by early settler James Drummond in Western Australia, it was described by Swiss botanist Carl Meissner in 1855.

In nature, B. sceptrum grows in deep yellow or pale red sand in tall shrubland, commonly on dunes, being found as a shrub to 5 metres (16 ft) high, though often smaller in exposed areas.

[4] The tall flower spikes, known as inflorescences, arise at the ends of vertical branches over November to January,[5] and can be striking in appearance.

[6] The ageing flowers turn grey and remain on the spike as the woody oval follicles develop.

[3] Swiss botanist Carl Meissner described Banksia sceptrum in 1855, based on a specimen collected by James Drummond north of the Hutt River sometime during 1850 or 1851.

Meissner divided Brown's Banksia verae, which had been renamed Eubanksia by Stephan Endlicher in 1847,[3] into four series based on leaf properties.

[3][11] In his 1981 monograph The genus Banksia L.f. (Proteaceae), Australian botanist Alex George placed B. sceptrum in B. subg.

[13] This was reinforced in a 2013 molecular study by Marcel Cardillo and colleagues using chloroplast DNA and combining it with earlier results.

[14] Mast, Eric Jones and Shawn Havery published the results of their cladistic analyses of DNA sequence data for Banksia in 2005.

They inferred a phylogeny greatly different from the accepted taxonomic arrangement, including finding Banksia to be paraphyletic with respect to Dryandra.

In the meantime, if Mast and Thiele's nomenclatural changes are taken as an interim arrangement, then B. sceptrum is placed in B. subg.

[17] Like many plants in Australia's southwest, Banksia sceptrum is adapted to an environment in which bushfire events are relatively frequent.

[18] B. sceptrum has been shown to be highly susceptible to dieback from the soil-borne water mould Phytophthora cinnamomi, like many Western Australian banksias.

[19] An assessment of the potential impact of climate change on this species found that its range is unlikely to contract and may actually grow, depending on how effectively it migrates into newly habitable areas.

[20] B. sceptrum is principally used in the cut flower industry, with the immature spikes being commonly sold in florists around Australia.

It is occasionally grown in gardens as its bright flower spikes are prominent, but requires a Mediterranean climate (dry summer) and good drainage as it is sensitive to dieback.